My Roots

I have to write about this even though I have very little information, else I will forget. My father hails from a village called Ardjawinagun, Kabumen, Indonesia. He has two other siblings, a sister Mainah and brother Sairi. My father was Mohd Marjan Ismail. Little did I know that Marjan is an Arabic word meaning gem cause at the mention of 'Marjan' the comment that comes would be 'you must be of Javanese descent. My grandfather, Ismail was named after son of Nabi Ibrahim. From there I knew that the religious inclination was strong at least from my father's and grandfather's name. Not sure whether  Mainah and Sairi are Arabic. I never knew my paternal grandmother's name. For that matter I have never met my paternal grandparents.

My father was born in 1910, thereabouts. He emigrated to Malaysia at the age of 15 with his aunt and many others I presume by boat ( not certain how big the boat was). Very strange, I never remembered him telling me anything about his journey here. I never knew when he left his village whether his mom and dad were still alive, for I wonder how his parents would have felt with a son leaving home and never to be seen again. He however made two trips back to his village accompanied by my elder cousin  to meet his aunts and siblings but there was no mention of his parents.

I have done some work in Indonesia in Ciawi which is pretty close to Kabumen, but of course I did not look for my long lost relatives there. Maybe someday if I make more doas Allah will make my family meet the remainder of my father's family there. Even if it's not in my lifetime maybe someday somebody will.